Cloud computing is quickly becoming a ubiquitous technology that has transformed the way businesses function, touching base dominantly in almost every industry vertical with exciting, positive results. Cloud computing technology is being productively embraced by the ever-popular gaming industry with a goal to modernize the gaming experience. While we have heard a lot about this idea for almost a decade, it is only now that cloud gaming services are gaining enormous prominence across the world.
How does cloud gaming work and why is it getting popular?
Cloud gaming works almost like video streaming, but of course with games. With the use of advanced server networks armed with pathbreaking streaming technology, cloud-based gaming enables everything- from standard gaming all the way to high-end games that run on just about any compatible device. Consequently, today, there are no more concerns about the specification requirements to run a game, no more booting that takes forever to set up or customize and no more error screens after waiting endlessly for the installation to be completed.
Any individual, from virtually any device, can get access to any game they want, whenever they want, using cloud gaming. Aside from this obvious perk, cloud gaming offers the following benefits-
- Cloud gaming stores the video game data online and therefore helps in saving hard drive disk space.
- It is super easy to send complex data and information to tablets, computers and mobile devices via the cloud.
- Cloud streaming protects the game from unexpected system breakdowns.
Why hasn’t cloud gaming taken over the world already?
With big players in the mix, it is understandable to wonder why this technology hasn’t taken over the world yet. Well, like all great revolutionary ideas, there is still time and many nagging creases yet to iron out. Here is a brief walkthrough of the challenges that is stopping cloud gaming from disrupting the market completely-
1) Cost
Bringing the cloud advantage in gaming entails service providers to spend a huge amount of money in getting the advanced servers to ensure seamless gameplay. Consequently, companies like OnLive has provided three options: purchase, rent or subscribe, to games on the cloud. Moreover, what adds on to the bill is the massive cost of bridging internet connections, as cloud gaming burns up about 1.3GB of data in an hour, conservatively speaking.
2) Latency and hardware
No matter how fast and precise be your internet connection, or how close you are to the server room which is rendering your game, cloud gaming will never be as completely smooth as its hardware counterpart. Something similar to Netflix, which can stream videos to counter these issues, cloud gaming technology must be streaming in real time at all times. Thus, the best setups will require the latency of at least 350 milliseconds and below.
3) Bandwidth and security issues
Cloud gaming services entail a huge quantum of bandwidth. Playing a game on the cloud may use more than 2GB per hour in terms of the precious bandwidth. If everybody played games using cloud technology, bandwidth usage would increase dramatically. Additionally, the cloud mechanism has received criticism for its lack of security, which can be a BIG problem, especially in the gaming world.
The Future- Despite the challenges and technical issues, cloud computing technology is all set to dominate the gaming industry in the near future with more advanced and updated attributes. With all the innovations and developments by top IT companies, cloud gaming will soon dominate the dedicated fandom driven gaming world.
